"Euphoria"

At last, the end of the Bush era and a new day for the country. While all the news channels were continuing their coverage- sitting outside in the cold interviewing the hoards of people on the mall- I was heading to Ocala to take advantage of the $1.75M cosmetics settlement. It was tough to convince my politically addicted mother to join me, but she eventually agreed. We picked up our free bottle of “Euphoria” and realized that if we could just find a TV, we’d be able to catch Obama’s inaugural speech. As we drove by the VW dealership, I remembered their big screen TV and gourmet coffee machine. We pulled in and found a waiting room filled with people, all glued to the TV screen- mechanics, car salesmen, office workers. It was an amazing experience- to watch our new president take the oath of office – feeling the hope and – ironically- the feeling of “Euphoria” in the air.

An Encounter with Elvis

Florida in the winter is really quite wonderful. While we grumble when the overnight temperatures drop below 40 and we have to cover plants (or, in our case, take our little “herb garden” in for the night), by 9 or 10 AM, we’re typically back to the mid 70’s with bright sunny skies. This winter, in particular, we’ve appreciated this amazing weather as we watch the rest of the country pummeled by snow and freezing weather. We watch the stories of snow dumped in the Northeast and remember a few of those winters in Boston where we couldn’t even see our car for days – completely covered with snow – and then, when you finally shoveled it out, you’d put a chair or bucket in “your spot” on the street. The rule was, “you shovel it, you own it” and beware taking someone’s shoveled spot. You could end up with 4 flat tires!
While we don’t miss the weather “up north”, we do miss all of the eating options. The most exotic option for dining out here in Florida is the local Thai restaurant – or our newly discovered Cajun hot spot. So, when we saw the huge article in the paper about opening of a new “Swiss German” restaurant/bakery (owned by a Swiss baker who is also an Elvis impersonator), we made reservations for Friday night. Hidden in the “Central Motel”—a old 60’s style motel on U.S. 41, we approached with caution. They opened for dinner at 5:00 and when we got there (a few minutes before 5), it was already packed with senior citizens. (The rush for dinner from 4:30 – 6:00 is a truely Florida experience. Throngs of seniors line up for those early bird specials. If you can push your dinner time to 7:00, you’ll typically find a completely empty restaurant).

We sat down….and waited….and waited….for anyone to give us a menu or offer us a drink. Out of sheer frustration, John flagged down the owner and discovered that they don’t have a liquor license. But, you could bring your own, so John set out to find some wine and beer. He returned with cold beer and two bottles of white wine. You could feel the wistful stares of all of the men in the room as they looked at John and E.D. swilling Budweisers. One of the two waitresses found a corkscrew for us and Mom and I used our coffee mugs as wine glasses. The evening was looking up. But,we still didn’t have menus. John snagged the owner again – and we heard the news – It was their first “Elvis Night” so there was no menu – our options: 1. Schnitzel, 2. All you can eat Fish and Chips , 3. Peanut butter and banana sandwich (Elvis’s favorite). It certainly made ordering easy- 4 schnitzel dinners. The good news- with BYO Beer and Wine and $6.95 dinners, it was a cheap evening. The not so good news—undercooked fries and what John called a “Schnitzel Impersonator”. It was edible, but not exactly fine dining. They were obviously on the shake-down cruise for the restaurant. By the time we were half way through our meal, the “all you can eat fish” was changed to just “fish and chips”. They were running out of fish—and it was only 6:00!

The best was yet to come. As we finished our meal, the owner arrived dressed in what I’d call “late Elvis”….a stretchy white pantsuit with gold appliqués and a huge gold belt. He started up the karaoke machine and we were in for an hour of “Elvis Live”. The guy was good….for an Elvis impersonator. John was in agony- he never did like 50’s and 60’s music and he was in a room filled with seniors singing along to “In the Ghetto”, “Jail House Rock” and “Can’t help falling in love”.
A few of the diners even brought video cameras to record the entire “concert”. Thank god we don’t know those people—a re-run would have been unbearable. Well, so much for the new restaurant in town. We’ll keep searching for that next hot spot…

High Tech XMAS

We kicked in the New Year with a dose of high tech…a new PC for me, a transfer of my laptop to Mom, a car GPS and last but certainly not least- Mom and E.D.’s new HDTV and Home Theater system. While we could handle the PC and GPS, we took one look at the Home Theater and called in the experts. The actual connections didn’t look too difficult. It was really only setting up the TV, Cable/DVR box, the DVD/Receiver and all the speakers. What a system- woofer, front speaker, two side speakers, two wireless rear speakers - and even a separate box that lets' you listen to the TV remotely.

Fortunately, Circuit City sent out two guys who didn't flinch when we asked them to move the 250 pound existing TV from the living room to the Florida room. Then they got to setting everything up. As I said, the wiring wasn't too complicated--but the TV set up needed to be done by a 20 year old. Cody (the youngster) spent about 1/2 hour just sitting in front of the TV with fingers flashing on the remote control. He got all the speakers calibrated, set up the TV so that all the HD channels work properly and the non HD channels show full screen. Then we got a little explanation of how to use the 3 remotes. My poor mother- we keep throwing all this new technology at her and she manages to figure it all out. After the guys left, we had to do the rest of the moving and re-cabling to take the TV from the Florida room into the bedroom, move the bedroom TV to the garage (not sure what she's going to do with that one) and then get the DVD/VCR's set up for the other 3 TV's. Six hours later and we were done and absolutely exhausted. I was supposed to cook jambalaya that day, but begged off and we came home and opened a bottle of wine! The HD TV is really gorgeous--it got us thinking about what it would take to get one for the motorhome...but, it's so much more complicated for us. We'd need to change out the roof in-motion antenna ($$$$), then the two TIVO/Receivers ($$$), then the DVD --the new HD TV ...and we aren't sure what wiring would be involved...So, we've decided to put it on hold. Maybe if Obama decides to do another economic stimulus check- or cut taxes....

Viva Las Vegas!

December birthdays are always a problem- coming so close to Christmas, they seem to get overshadowed. So, this year, Mom and I decided to take a girl's trip to Las Vegas. Monday morning and we were heading to the Orlando airport at 5:30 AM. It was an obscene time to leave but the traffic was blissfully light at that time of day. We got to the airport in plenty of time for our flight – no rush to get through the heightened holiday security – and plenty of time to grab a bite to eat. Since the airlines have started to charge for everything these days, we got a huge cup of coffee in the airport. The flight was fairly full, but we managed to get an aisle and window seats with an empty middle seat. In no time, we were landing in Las Vegas. We grabbed our car from Enterprise and were ready to hit the Strip.

The airport in Las Vegas is just south of the Strip and so wonderfully close to everything. It was obvious that tourism is down in Vegas- based on the price of the room at the Palazzo and the lack of tourists on the Strip. The Palazzo is one of the latest additions to the luxury hotel inventory on the Strip. The location was perfect- on the north end of the Strip, connected by walkways to both the Venetian and the Wynn. We valet parked the car, registered for our room and made our way to the guest room towers (with the obligatory walk through the casino.

Our room was on the 43rd floor with a view of the Venetian and the South Strip. The “suite” was 750 square feet—twice the size of our motorhome – with 3 HD flat screen TV’s (one in the bathroom!). Everything was gorgeous. You walked into the room – bathroom on the left with a huge soaking tub, large glass shower, two fluffy white robes, lighted makeup mirror and wonderful scented soaps. Down the hall was the bedroom with two queen size beds, crisp white sheets, a huge HD TV and a credenza with ice bucket and two wine glasses. (How did they know we were coming?) Two steps down and you were in the “living room” with a huge picture window with a beautiful view (the drapes and the blinds opened and closed by remote control), with a HD TV, DVD, fax and copier and a huge L-shaped sofa. We unpacked, added our Walgreen’s 4 cup coffeemaker (no coffeemakers in Las Vegas hotel rooms!), and we were “home”.

But not for long- it was time to grab some lunch (after all, it was 1:00 LV time, but we were still on East Coast time). We decided to try lunch at the Grande Lux Café in the Palazzo. We stopped before lunch to get our “Club Grazie” cards and free $15 in slot play. (Added to the $50 in slot play and $50 drink credits from the hotel). One meal at the Grande Lux was enough to feed two people- but it was our lunch/dinner. After lunch, we took a bit of our “free” money and played the slots. But, we didn’t have much time- we were due at the Wynn for our show by 6:30.

The evenings cooled down significantly and we had a brisk walk from the Palazzo to the Wynn on the elevated walkway. We stopped outside the Wynn to see their beautiful 150 foot waterfall and then stepped inside to a holiday wonderland- trees loaded with sparkling white lights and gorgeous plants. The hotel/casino was built on the site of the old Desert Inn at a price tag of $2.7 BILLION. We had a bit of time before the show to get our players club cards (and another free $15 in play). I hit the jackpot (literally) with the Dean Martin slot. I hit a high of $280, but played it down to $210 before cashing out. Not bad when you’re playing on someone else’s money!

La Reve was spectacular. It’s hard to describe this Cirque de Soleil-esque show. La Reve (“the Dream”) theater is an “aqua theater in the round”—the seats circle a large stage made of water (one million gallons). The theater is very intimate- no seat is more than 40 feet from the stage. (We were fortunate to get seats outside of the “splash zone” – the first few rows where the audience gets wet). The show is a mix of aerial acrobatics, special effects and what the Wynn calls “artistic athleticism.

After the show, we played a few more slots then headed back to our room to relax and enjoy our view.
Day 2

We were up at 6 AM (our bodies still on East Coast time) and got to try out our bargain coffee maker. It paid for itself in one morning- room service for a pot of coffee was $12.00 –before tax and service – and we were well into our 3rd pot by 8 AM. After a leisurely morning, we walked from the Palazzo to it’s sister hotel, the Venetian. It was like walking into Venice – the “Grand Canal” running through the cobble-stoned shopping streets with cafes and gondolas – underneath a ceiling that is painted in the likeness of the sky on a picture perfect day. The canals lead to a replica of St Mark’s square. The stone is aged for a weathered look and the tiles are the exact copies of their Italian counterparts. The hotel reception area is designed to resemble the Doge’s Palace with beautiful inlaid floors and arched ceiling with gold and ceiling adorned with Renaissance paintings.

From “Venice”, we made our way down the Strip to the Bellagio and the feel of Lake Como in Italy. The Bellagio was one of the first true luxury hotels on the Strip and the extravagance is evident the moment you enter- with the blown glass flower sculpture on the ceiling and the beautiful conservatory. This time of year, the conservatory is decorated for the holidays with white and red and green flowers, huge snowmen, reindeers made of pecan shells and large mirrored silver boxes.

Once again, it was a walk through the casino to get to the Bellagio Buffet. We arrived at 10:50 AM—just in time to get in for breakfast prices, but take advantage of the full lunch offering. We had a VERY leisurely lunch- taking small plates and small pieces of just about everything—from fresh gulf shrimp to chicken Wellington, barbequed ribs, strange fish, carved turkey, salmon, and salads. And then, the desserts – there were hundreds of small plates with key lime pies, chocolate mousse, cheesecakes, cream puffs, chocolate raspberry cakes. We took a sampling and shared them over a cup of coffee. We were stuffed!

It was back to the Palazzo to get ready for our evening entertainment- Mamma Mia at the Mandalay. We got to the Mandalay early- a chance to play a few slots and walk over to the Luxor. We didn’t have much luck at their slots- but our losses were always fairly small. We wandered over to the theater and found our seats- behind two of the tallest people in the room. I took a chance and found a nice attendant and explained the situation- she hooked me up with the manager- who eventually got us two seats only a few rows from the front! Perfect seats- we were almost on the stage with the actors. The play is adorable- catchy, Abba tunes, a cute story and a cast who obviously loved their few hours on the stage. You couldn’t help tapping your feet and “mamma mia, here I go again..my my….” – how can I get that song out of my head!!

We drove back to the Palazzo- taking in the sights and sounds of the Strip at night. There’s nothing quite like it- the Wizard of Oz green and huge gold lion at the MGM, the primary colors of the Excalibur, the mini New York City motif at NY/NY complete with 150 foot Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State building and the roller coaster running inside and outside of the building, the Eifel Tower and lighted air balloon at the Paris Hotel, the pyramid and sphinx at the Luxor –even the McDonalds is glammed up with lights. After valet parking the car, we decided to use our $50 liquor credit at the Lavo nightclub – the new hot spot on the Strip. Well, talk about feeling old! The place was packed- wall to wall 20 year olds! We had visions of a few drinks at the bar- but settled for using our $50 for a bottle of wine- at the low end of their price list! We smuggled the bottle out of the bar under Mom’s jacket and took it back to our room for our own private view of the Mirage volcano from our picture window.
Day 3

We made use of our wonderful Walgreen’s coffeemaker again before heading out to take in a bit more of the Strip- stopping at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace. It was over the top kitsch – trying to be Roman decadent, but coming across just a bit ridiculous- Roman colonnades, pillars, gigantic Roman statues… We took a trip up the circular escalators to the top, wandered through the “Forum” and decided that it was time for a bit of “Old Vegas”.

The drive from the Strip to Fremont Street is a depressing sight- poverty, pawn shops and abandoned buildings. Not a place you’d want to find yourself stranded at night. We parked at the Plaza and walked over to Main Street Station. Walking into the casino is like a trip back to early 20th century Victorian elegance. Wrought iron railings, stained glass windows, hammered tins ceilings, huge elaborate chandeliers…. We decided to chance another buffet- this one didn’t compare to the Bellagio- but was half the price and served it’s purpose- our “lunch/dinner” for the day.

We spent the afternoon walking Fremont Street- wandering into the old casinos- the Fremont (the first high rise in Las Vegas- built in 1956), 4 Queens, the California and Binions- where we got our picture taken with $1 Million dollars! John convinced me to try the “Dance Heads” DVD experience and put up the money if I could get my mom to try it. Well- it didn’t take too much convincing – and we were sitting in the kiosk in the middle of Fremont Street with a blue cloth draped around us – waiting for our debut. The music started- we were dancing girls singing “Viva Las Vegas” with our own Elvis. My head popped off my body a few times, but Mom got it immediately. She got the head bobs and facial expressions perfectly. We got a second shot at “Good Lovin” – I got to be the drummer (and lead singer) while Mom played bass guitar. What an experience- especially when they played both DVD’s for the crowd that had gathered outside the booth.

With DVD’s in hand, we played a few more slots- at the Fremont before heading to the Plaza. We picked up our tickets and I played my Super Jackpot Party while Mom found her machine right by the theater entrance – the Butterfly machine. We both walked away with a few dollars before the Rat Pack show started.

“The Rat Pack is Back” just moved to the Plaza and the setting is perfect. The theater is reminiscent of the 1960’s dinner theaters – with crystal chandeliers and red draperies on the walls. The show starts with the announcer encouraging “drinking, gambling and carousing”- not only encouraged, but mandatory. Then the voice of Buddy Hackett sounds- explaining that he’s sending the guys back for one last show. The 12 piece orchestra starts playing and you find yourself watching “Frank, Dean, Sammy and Joey” –Dean Martin, drink in hand singing songs like “Ain’t that a Kick in the Head”, Sammy Davis Jr. doing Mr. Bojangles, and Frank Sinatra with the brightest blue eyes- singing old standards. They even have an amazing Marilyn Monroe – who stole the show with her lap dance for a birthday “boy” in the audience. It was a bit of old Vegas and a perfect way to end our trip.

Our last night to enjoy the luxury of our room – we cracked open our last Bailey’s and enjoyed the view and sat up and talked till the wee hours. We had become accustomed to the luxury of Vegas- the drapes and blinds that operate at the touch of a remote, the automatic toilets, the sinks that turn on automatically, the paper towels and soap that dispense on their own, the doors that swing open as you approach- not to mention the joys of valet parking and maid service. How do we go back to reality?

Day 4
Our last valet park, a drop off of the car and time to enjoy a relaxed breakfast at the airport (and even throw a few dollars into the airport slot machines!). Our two flights were crowded, but once again, we had a window and aisle with no one in the middle. We got into Orlando about 7:30 that night and we were home by 9:00. E.D. and John were waiting with a glass of wine and a hot bowl of chili.

A visit from old friends

We had a visit from some old friends from Denver this week. We had just missed C.J. and Jeff a few weeks back- we were both at Rock Crusher –completely unaware that we were only sites away from each other. So, on their way to St Augustine, they made a 3 day stop to visit us. They have had quite a journey since we last saw them in Maryland. Just 5 years ago, they were living on their boat on the Chesapeake Bay. Since then, they sold the boat, bought a fifth-wheel, bought a house in Sun City, bought a truck camper (they didn’t feel comfortable with the size of the fifth-wheel). Now, they’re trying to sell the house and the fifth wheel and figure out what they want to do. We had a good time catching up, drinking a bit of wine and enjoying dinner at Margarita's.

The next day, we were faced with the “what do we do now” dilemma. We’ve really not played tourist in the area so we were wracking our brains to figure out something to do. We settled on a visit to the Homosassa Wild Life Park. Expecting the worst, we started a walk through the park and were pleasantly surprised to find a well-run, fascinating place. We watched the manatee presentation and walked through the various areas. The park showcased the “old Florida” before developers and sticks people took over.
The lush vegetation, the amazing birds were all here. The pink flamingos were a real highlight. Not only are they remarkable creatures- they are so sociable- and SO noisy. The park even houses a hippo that starred in the TV show, “Daktari”. Lu, the hippo, was born in 1960 and, at the ripe old age of 48, is living out the rest of her days in her own little pool.

We discovered a new restaurant in old Homosassa- called Neon Leon’s Zydeco Steakhouse. What a find! The restaurant is named after the bass guitarist for Lynard Skynard – the uncle of the owner. Leon’s family has sent a collection of memorabilia- Leon’s guitars, gold records and hats. The cook is a true “coon-ass” – straight from Baton Rouge – and the food was amazing! They’ve only been open for 5 weeks and are hoping to make a go of it in some pretty tough times. We’ll be regulars –great food and a little feel of Louisiana right in our backyard.

November 15th—our one year anniversary with our little mal-terrorist. It feels like Chloe has been a part of our life forever.

Boston, Bailey and Bad Backs...

We left Cleveland on Sunday, heading for Salem, MA. Seems like this year – in addition to being the year of the dog – has become the Year of the Long Drive. We made the drive in 2 days – arriving into Salem about 7 PM on Monday. Another drop jacks and get a glass of wine. Our beautiful waterfront site was a bit less attractive this year. The three prime sites on the harbor have been taken over by a government mandated clean-up. So, instead of the beautiful view of Marblehead, we had a view of a chain link fence, a generator and some PVC pipes hooked up to large metal barrels. Evidently there had been an underground fuel tank on this site when it was a naval seaplane base and now- years later – they’ve decided that they need to clean It up. Charlie’s lost thousands of dollars in rentals and expects that it will take over a year to complete the cleanup. Looks a little Rube Goldberg to us…. Nonetheless, Chloe’s early morning wake-up calls did give us the chance to see some absolutely gorgeous sunrises over the water.

We did the usual doctor, dentist drill (literally this year as I had to have a crown on my back tooth and John had several fillings put in). The bright spot in our visit this year was Charlie’s (the park manager) new addition- a 3 month old cocker- poodle mix puppy named Bailey. Bailey is the color of Bailey’s Irish Cream (leave it to Charlie to name his dog after liquor!) Chloe and Bailey fell immediately in love and our happy hours were spent watching the dogs chase each other around the motorhome. Right now, the two are about the same size and Chloe had the advantage of speed. Next year, she’ll be in for a surprise- Bailey will probably be twice her size and weight.

About mid-way into our stay, my mom ended up in the hospital in Wisconsin with severe back pain. Trying to deal with MRI’s, Pain Clinics and the bureaucracy of our health system remotely got to be just too much. So, leaving John home with Chloe, I was off to Wisconsin. With 4 bulging discs, she was in severe pain and the hospital was way to willing to just keep her on a morphine drip. I got there in time to pick her up from the small rural hospital (only 26 beds) and take her to the Pain Clinic in Rice Lake (the biggest town around). While the nurses were wonderful, the doctor’s bedside manner left a lot to be desired. But, the spinal injections did seem to do some good and we got her home with a bag full of drugs and orders to “take it easy”. I have to give her credit- within days, she had gotten off the morphine pills and was on Tylenol as needed. She is one tough cookie!

The next challenge was trying to figure out how to get the two of them from the house in Wisconsin (a two story house –definitely not ideal for someone with a bad back) to the house in Florida. With cold weather only weeks away, we decided to put the two of them on a plane to Florida and let me drive their car to Florida. Within a week, we had the house closed up and on Sunday, packed up the car. On Monday morning, after a hearty bowl of oatmeal, I was off. I had two long driving days and made it to the Panhandle of Florida on Day 2. It made for an easy drive to Inverness the next day. I got in on Wednesday morning and by the time Mom and E.D. arrived, the car was unpacked and the wine was in the refrigerator. Poor E.D., I forgot to get ice for his brandy and water- so he joined us for a glass of wine. He needed it- the guy just can’t seem to catch a break at airports. For the third time, he was stopped at security and had to go through a body search! Imagine- a 90 year old man, legally blind –this is the guy our airport security folks pick out as a possible terrorist!

Once the boxes were unpacked and the refrigerator was filled, I was flying back to Boston. Fortunately, the weather was gorgeous and we had a beautiful week of fall weather.

Watching the river flow

We may have made it south- but the weather was still awful! We alternated between torrential rains and today, it's just cloudy, cold and damp. I've never been so interested in accuweather.com. We spent our time in Memphis enjoying the view and trying to relax after our motorhome blues. We' were at a park right on the MIssissippi and still marvel at the barge traffic..especially those boats going by at night. Would love to see what they use for navigation. One of these years, we will figure out a way to hitch a ride and cruise the river.